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Here Comes the Bride!

There have been all sorts of things going on around here but the biggest one is the upcoming wedding of my eldest daughter, India. If you’ve been reading this blog for more than a couple of years you’ll recognize her fiancé. It’s her boyfriend, Ethan, whom she has been dating since age sixteen. We love him to pieces so we’re thrilled that we get to have him in our family permanently!

They both returned from Mormon missions last year so there was a brief get-to-know-you-again phase since they spent over two years apart, only writing emails and letters. Turns out they still like each other.

This is my first child and our first wedding so there has been a steep learning curve, but you know me and my enthusiasm for beautiful things and DIY. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to put on a wedding. You can either hire that village or you can implore your friends and relatives to help you out. People have really stepped up to give us a hand and it’s only going to get more intense as the wedding gets closer. Fortunately I have no problem asking people for help and they’ll rue the day they offhandedly said, “let me know if there’s anything you need help with.”

I have decided against making the wedding cake in order to preserve the small amount of sanity that I still have. Making wedding cakes is maddening even under ideal circumstances. When I went to order the wedding cake, the lady at the shop told me how brilliant I was not to make my own. She has four kids and sadly never learned her lesson. She also assumed I was the bride, but I explained the cake was for my daughter’s wedding. She said, “What? Did you give birth when you were nine?!?”, which was a terribly sweet thing to say. Mister thinks she was just trying to butter me up. Whatever. I take all compliments, even fake ones.

I’m also not making the wedding dress because I AM NOT CRAZY. Everyone asks if I’m making it. These people obviously don’t know how hard that would be. I am, however, making all the bridesmaid dresses. So I am partially crazy.

Here is what I have decided to DIY: the flowers. I love, love, love flowers and our budget for flowers did not allow the arrangements India was hoping for. At least, not done professionally. But Hildie, amateur flower-arranger extraordinaire, is on the case! So we’re ordering a bajillion flowers wholesale and we’re going to have quite the flower-arranging party the night before the wedding.

These blooms are going to be the star of the show: Hanoi Cloony ranunculus. I saw these in a picture and I literally gasped. I knew we MUST have them for the wedding. It took me weeks to track these beauties down because I had no idea what kind of ranunculus they were. I figured it out but I was sadly disappointed because their growing season ends in April but the wedding is in May. Fortunately I have excellent sleuthing abilities and I found a grower in South America that will have them next month. I’m so excited! I think that makes me an official flower nerd.

Also, peonies are gosh darn expensive. Even wholesale. But can you blame me for not being able to resist these? India prefers white flowers but to me they are so blah. From far away you might as well have a bouquet made of wads of toilet paper. So we are planning on quite a few white flowers, but we’re adding some blush in there as well. Pink is just plain prettier.

In addition to flowers, we’re going to DIY the food. Most of the food, at least. Here’s the good news: it’s a brunch so it will be easy-to-make breakfasty foods. There will be a donut wall, of course. I’m always looking for any excuse to serve and eat donuts. Now I just need to figure out how to make 400 pieces of bacon with only one oven. Maybe I need to have a bacon-cooking party.

I’m also making the wedding favors. Not to spoil it or anything but I made the mother of all soap batches last week. I filled up every soap mold that I own. My house smells really lovely with all that soap curing. It just occurred to me looking at this picture that the soap has a definite 70’s vibe with the green and gold. But I assure you it won’t look like a barfy avocado and harvest gold kitchen when all is said and done. Trust me.

Ethan’s parents have gone above and beyond in the DIY department. When the happy couple told us they really wanted wooden farmhouse tables for the reception, I took one look at the rental prices and said, “too bad, so sad”. But Ethan’s parents stepped up and made several farmhouse tables. From scratch. I don’t even know what to say.

The wedding will be here before we know it. I’m praying I don’t have a nervous breakdown before then!